(RALEIGH) -- State Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler is asking the state legislature for special authority during an emergency, in part, because Gov. Bev Perdue refused to ease weight restrictions for farmers transporting hastily harvested crops ahead of Hurricane Irene.

Officials have estimated that Irene did $320 million worth of damage to the state’s crops.

Troxler asked the governor for an executive order to temporarily suspend weight and width rules on trucks and trailers for farmers hauling crops out of the fields ahead of Irene. The answer was no.

“We asked for these rules to be suspended temporarily and it didn’t happen,” Troxler said.

Troxler said Perdue’s office didn’t give a reason as to why an executive order waiving weight restrictions for vehicles transporting equipment related to power restoration and debris removal didn’t include crop transportation. Instead, Troxler was told the Highway Patrol would work with farmers transporting crops ahead of Irene’s North Carolina landfall.

Division of Emergency Management spokesman Ernie Seneca said instead of issuing an executive order, state troopers were told to work with farmers. “Our troopers are aware that this is an emergency situation. There are circumstances unique to the storm and they were told to use good judgment in dealing with the farmers.”

But several farmers told the State Board of Agriculture Wednesday that law enforcement placed an extra burden on farmers simply by making routine stops.

“[Department of Motor Vehicles] enforcement has a job to do and we appreciate that job – it protects our highways,” said Pender Sharp, a tobacco farmer from Wilson County. “But this is a very critical time in the farm community now - getting crops a mile down the road…They need to back off just a little bit during this crisis and let everybody get their crops moved.”

State lawmakers will be in Raleigh next week for a special session to consider amendments to the state constitution next. Troxler said he will provide a proposal that gives the Commissioner power to waive restrictions during an emergency that affect agriculture. Those powers would include suspending transportation rules to speed harvesting, suspending limitations on burying and burning debris, and relaxing state veterinarian requirements for animal deaths.

“We need to act in a time of emergency like we are in a time of emergency,” said Ray Starling, general counsel for the state Department of Agriculture. “We don’t need to stop people on the side of the roads and weight their trucks. We don’t need to hold people for 30 or 45 minutes.”

But the governor’s office takes issue with Troxler’s proposal. Perdue spokesman Mark Johnson said it’s important to have one state official in charge of disaster response.

“If the Department of Agriculture needs help, we will always work with them. We will give them what they need,” Johnson added. “But in a time of crisis, there needs to be one leader and that’s the governor.”